Fishermen Using Condoms in Cuba

Cubans Use Condoms to Catch Expensive Ocean Fish

Fishermen in Cuba have found a new use for condoms. Since the United States embargo and the Soviet collapse most people live on a very meager existence – roughly $25 per month. Therefore, they are forced to be creative with the little money they have. The fishermen started inflating the condoms to the size of a balloon and then placed them at the end of their poles. This allows for the floating devices to carry lines as far as 900 feet off the coast line. The condoms also keep bait closer to the water’s surface which provides more strength to the fisherman as s/he reels in a catch.

Fisherman Juan Luis Rosello recently told The Associated Press, “This is the most effective way to fish, someone got this great idea and I can be here all night with the balloons out.” Balloon fishing, as it is referred to in Cuba, is a matter of economic survival. An example of how condoms can help the fisherman is in a 35-pound red snapper. This fish could feed a family or be sold to a private restaurant for $1 per pound. This one fish could offer a family the monthly wage in Cuba.

Alex Romero, president of the state-backed Old Havana Federation of Fishermen explained, ‘It’s efficient and everyone uses it. It’s the ingenuity that Cubans always show in resolving problems without spending a lot of money.”